The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  28So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

  29Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was hLaban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.

  30So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.

  31And he said, “Come in, iO blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

  32Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and jprovided straw and feed for the camels, and water to kwash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

  33Food was set before him to eat, but he said, l“I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”

  34So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

  35“The LORD mhas blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

  36“And Sarah my master’s wife nbore a son to my master when she was old; and oto him he has given all that he has.

  37“Now my master pmade me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;

  38q‘but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’

  39r“And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’

  40s“But he said to me, ‘The LORD, tbefore whom I walk, will send His angel with you and 5prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.

  41u‘You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

  42“And this day I came to the well and said, v‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,

  43w‘behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”

  44‘and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’

  45x“But before I had finished yspeaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

  46“And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

  47“Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

  48z“And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to atake the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.

  49“Now if you will bdeal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

  50Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, c“The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot dspeak to you either bad or good.

  51e“Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.”

  52And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that fhe worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

  53Then the servant brought out gjewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave hprecious things to her brother and to her mother.

  54And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, i“Send me away to my master.”

  55But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

  56And he said to them, “Do not 6hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

  57So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.”

  58Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

  59So they sent away Rebekah their sister jand her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

  60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

  Our sister, may you become

  kThe mother of thousands of ten thousands;

  lAnd may your descendants possess

  The gates of those who hate them.”

  61Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

  62Now Isaac came from the way of mBeer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.

  63And Isaac went out nto meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.

  64Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac oshe dismounted from her camel;

  65for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.

  66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

  67Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he ptook Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac qwas comforted after his mother’s death.

  Genesis 25

  Abraham and Keturah

  (1 Chr. 1:32, 33)

  1Abraham again took a wife, and her name was aKeturah.

  2And bshe bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

  3Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

  4And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

  5And cAbraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

  6But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he dsent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to ethe country of the east.

  Abraham’s Death and Burial

  7This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.

  8Then Abraham breathed his last and fdied in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and gwas gathered to his people.

  9And hhis sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of iMachpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,

  10jthe field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. kThere Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

  11And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at lBeer Lahai Roi.

  The Families of Ishmael and Isaac

  (1 Chr. 1:29–31)

  12Now this is the mgenealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.

  13And nthese were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

  14Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

  151Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

  16These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their 2settlements, otwelve princes according to their nations.

  17These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and phe breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

  18q(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He 3died rin the presence of all his brethren.

  19This is the sgenealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. tAbraham begot Is
aac.

  20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, uthe daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, vthe sister of Laban the Syrian.

  21Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; wand the LORD granted his plea, xand Rebekah his wife conceived.

  22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” ySo she went to inquire of the LORD.

  23And the LORD said to her:

  z“Two nations are in your womb,

  Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

  One people shall be stronger than athe other,

  bAnd the older shall serve the younger.”

  24So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

  25And the first came out red. He was clike a hairy garment all over; so they called his name 4Esau.

  26Afterward his brother came out, and dhis hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so ehis name was called 5Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

  27So the boys grew. And Esau was fa skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was ga 6mild man, hdwelling in tents.

  28And Isaac loved Esau because he iate of his game, jbut Rebekah loved Jacob.

  Esau Sells His Birthright

  (Heb. 12:16)

  29Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.

  30And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called 7Edom.

  31But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

  32And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so kwhat is this birthright to me?”

  33Then Jacob said, 8“Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and lsold his birthright to Jacob.

  34And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then mhe ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau ndespised his birthright.

  Genesis 26

  Isaac and Abimelech

  1There was a famine in the land, besides athe first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to bAbimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

  2Then the LORD appeared to him and said: c“Do not go down to Egypt; live in dthe land of which I shall tell you.

  3e“Dwell in this land, and fI will be with you and gbless you; for to you and your descendants hI give all these lands, and I will perform ithe oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

  4“And jI will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; kand in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

  5l“because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

  6So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

  7And the men of the place asked about his wife. And mhe said, “She is my sister”; for nhe was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is obeautiful to behold.”

  8Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, 1showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.

  9Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.”’

  10And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and pyou would have brought guilt on us.”

  11So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who qtouches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

  12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year ra hundredfold; and the LORD sblessed him.

  13The man tbegan to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

  14for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines uenvied him.

  15Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells vwhich his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.

  16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for wyou are much mightier than we.”

  17Then Isaac departed from there and 2pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

  18And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. xHe called them by the names which his father had called them.

  19Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.

  20But the herdsmen of Gerar yquarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well 3Esek, because they quarreled with him.

  21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name 4Sitnah.

  22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name 5Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall zbe fruitful in the land.”

  23Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

  24And the LORD aappeared to him the same night and said, b“I am the God of your father Abraham; cdo not fear, for dI am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”

  25So he ebuilt an altar there and fcalled on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

  26Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, gand Phichol the commander of his army.

  27And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, hsince you hate me and have isent me away from you?”

  28But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD jis with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a 6covenant with you,

  29‘that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. kYou are now the blessed of the LORD.”’

  30lSo he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

  31Then they arose early in the morning and mswore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

  32It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

  33So he called it 7Shebah. nTherefore the name of the city is 8Beersheba to this day.

  34oWhen Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

  35And pthey were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

  Genesis 27

  Isaac Blesses Jacob

  1Now it came to pass, when Isaac was aold and bhis eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

  2Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I cdo not know the day of my death.

  3d“Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.

  4“And make me 1savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul emay bless you before I die.”

  5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.

  6So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,

  7‘Bring me game and make 2savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’

  8“Now therefore, my son, fobey my voice according to what I command you.

  9“Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make gsavory food fr
om them for your father, such as he loves.

  10“Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he hmay bless you before his death.”

  11And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, iEsau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

  12“Perhaps my father will jfeel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring ka curse on myself and not a blessing.”

  13But his mother said to him, l“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

  14And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother mmade 3savory food, such as his father loved.

  15Then Rebekah took nthe choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

  16And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

  17Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

  18So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

  19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, othat your soul may bless me.”

  20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me.”

  21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I pmay feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

  22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

  23And he did not recognize him, because qhis hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

  24Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”

  25He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so rthat my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.